2021-2022 (FY22) KET Annual Report

LOCAL CONTENT AND SERVICE REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY

JULY 2021 - JUNE 2022 (FY22)

MISSION

Serving the public interest, KET enriches lives and builds stronger communities by educating, informing, inspiring and connecting people of every age and circumstance through the power of public media.

To be Kentucky’s essential and most-trusted source of educational, cultural and public affairs content.

VISION VALUES

We uphold these values for our operations, programs, and services.

Accessibility

Collaboration

Creativity

PILLARS

Serve the Audience

KET responds to the diverse needs and expectations of our viewers, users and supporters through high quality programs, original productions, and valued services.

Advance Success in School and Life

KET supports school-readiness, student achievement, and an educated workforce through the creation and delivery of standards-aligned instructional resources and services.

Connect through Innovation

KET ensures universal access, expands services on emerging platforms and supports public safety.

Build Community

KET serves as a trusted community partner, unifier and convener.

Secure the Promise

KET advances the vitality of the organization and serves as a good steward of the public’s trust and investment.

Live the Values

KET fulfills its mission through the strength of its people and a culture of service.

EDUCATING. INFORMING. INSPIRING.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

KET is dedicated to providing for the youngest Kentuckians, and those that care for them, with quality programming, resources and services.

Kentucky’s children experience trusted PBS KIDS programs like Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Peg + Cat and Donkey Hodie. On air and online, KET provides PBS KIDS programming to every Kentucky child via our 16-transmitter broadcast network, which includes the 24/7 KET PBS KIDS channel that also streams online.

The November 2021 launch of “Let’s Learn Kentucky” marked a milestone in reaching the parents and caregivers of preschool children and addressing the kindergarten-preparedness gap.

And, in classrooms and community organizations across the state, KET’s early childhood resources were put to use.

• Thanks to the PNC Grow Up Great + PBS KIDS Content Development Support grant, KET began work with Kentucky early childhood educators to distribute high-quality, media-enriched, bilingual educator resources and improve preschool learning opportunities in the classroom.

• Thanks to an anonymous donor, a dozen community organizations in Kentucky were awarded grants through KET to support family learning opportunities. The workshops and camps, which incorporated popular PBS KIDS programs and characters, aimed to help children ages 5-10 and their families explore STEM-related subjects.

• To ensure KET’s continued relevance in the classroom, KET was invited to join the Kentucky Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Standardized Training Task Force to review unification and accountability of the early childhood system and launch of the revised Early Childhood Standards.

LET’S LEARN KENTUCKY

“Let’s Learn Kentucky,” developed by KET, is an online resource hub for parents and caregivers navigating the years of formative development of children from birth through the time students enter school. Using the KY school readiness definition as a guide, KET curated parent and caregiver- focused articles and simple activities for families within six critical areas.

“Let’s Learn Kentucky” launched at the Early Childhood Institute in partnership with the Kentucky Governor’s Office for Early Childhood (KYGOEC) and the Kentucky Department of Education.

K-12 EDUCATION

KET resources are used in Kentucky classrooms every day. Through the thousands of free online resources KET provides at KET.org/education and in PBS LearningMedia, educators can complement classroom instruction with video, virtual learning and other engaging digital learning tools.

Top 3 KET PBS LM collections for FY22:

The annual Young Writers Contest received more than 1,200 entries in 2022. KET recognized 45 placing winners and 140 finalists.

In K-12 education, KET has produced 3,500 digital classroom resources – including 97 in FY22.

KET’s Summer Multimedia PD Event was hosted as a hybrid – in-person and virtual – event including 12 sessions and more than 1,400 attendees.

KET’s News Quiz was one of the top-10 resources on PBS LearningMedia nationally, with a record-breaking annual average of 160,000 viewers watching each week from 118 Kentucky school districts, 44 states, 7 countries and 1 U.S. territory.

KET was proud to celebrate Chris Tyson Renshaw, a digital learning coach with the Christian County Technology Department in Hopkinsville, KY, who was named a member of the 2022 class of educators selected for the PBS Digital Innovator All-Star Program.

IMPACT AND REACH

EMPOWERING EDUCATORS

KET Education Consultants provided over 170 workshops and 13 online courses, training more than 14,000 K-12 educators.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Almost 13,000 PD certificates were awarded to educators and other school personnel during FY22.

EDUCATION SELF-PACED PD COURSES

This fiscal year, the courses had nearly 15,000 enrollments with an 82% completion rate, distributing over 12,000 certificates.

VIRTUAL MEDIA LAB

KET facilitators conducted 82 workshops and served more than 1,500 students and teachers from39 different districts over FY22.

KENTUCKY ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCE COLLABORATIVE | Launched Summer 2022

The Collaborative works with regional and national partners to provide ongoing supports to meet the needs of Kentucky K-12 online learners through educator professional development.

Partner Network

KY School Districts

Kentucky Department of EDUCATION

ADULT EDUCATION

KET’s FastForward is proven – 90% of students using FastForward pass the test and earn a GED® credential. That’s well above the national average. KET’s awardwinning Adult Education programs enhance the work of educators and adult learners across the country!

FY22 Highlights include:

KET partnered with EnGen, a provider of English Language Learning software for employers, to offer ELL resources to current FastForward and Workplace Essential Skills customers.

The GEDWorks ™ program uses FastForward, KET’s highly-effective GED prep courses, to serve employers and their employees who are studying to earn their GED credential.

KET’s Adult Education team published new FastForward assessments for the math and language arts content areas.

IMPACT AND REACH

FastForward users in FY22: 12,151

Workplace Essential Skills users in FY22: 801

Total adult learners in FY22: 12,952

Over 1,100 adult educators trained through workshops and online PD courses.

“The best warning system is one that works in multiple ways — and KET’s transmission network is part of the backbone of our communications with the general public. If power is lost to the cell towers, our information still gets to where it needs to go because of this backup system. And it saves lives.”

Meteorologist with Kentucky Emergency Management

EDUCATING, CONNECTING PROTECTING ALL OF K E NT UC K Y

KET PUBLIC SAFET Y PARTNERS

Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN)

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Emergency Alert System

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Federal Emergency

Management Administration (FEMA)

National Guard

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Weather Service

PBS WARN/Wireless Emergency Alerts

Secret Service

KentuckyWired

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources

Kentucky Division of Forestry

Kentucky Emergency Management

Kentucky Emergency Warning System (KEWS)

Kentucky National Guard

Kentucky State Police

Louisville Fire Department

Regional EMS and Sheriffs’ Departments

&

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

BRITTANY ROBINSON

“Odd Squad is [six-year old Mason’s] favorite because he gets caught up in the investigations they do and it helps him use his imagination. It makes me happy because the characters use a lot of descriptive words, so I see him problem-solving in a way that not many six-year-olds do.”

LAURA DOUGLAS President & CEO, West End Opportunity Partnership (WEOP); former interim president & CEO, The Muhammad Ali Center

“KET tells you so much about what’s happening in the state. Whether talking about our history or telling the stories of everyday Kentuckians, KET highlights the magic of this place.”

BEN CHANDLER

President & CEO, Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky; former US Representative (’04-’13)

“KET strives to educate and improve the lives of Kentuckians by providing them with the facts they need. And in this environment, we need that more than ever.”

DR. FELICIA CUMINGS SMITH President, National Center for Families Learning

“Addressing the needs of people from all walks of life, both urban and rural, is one of the great challenges of any educational system. KET has a long history of playing an instrumental role in Kentucky, eliminating the barriers to access and opportunity and ensuring that no one is left behind.”

MARY MICHAEL and SAM CORBETT

“KET’s arts programming inspires creativity. And over the last few years, with COVID causing performances to be canceled and venues shuttered, it’s really been a time when we’ve needed the arts more than ever. So I’m so thankful that we have KET, which does such a great job of building awareness in the value of the arts and the role artists play across the Commonwealth.”

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FRIENDS OF KET

The Friends of KET, founded in August 1971, serve as passionate advocates and knowledgeable ambassadors. They help promote KET programs and services while also providing indispensable feedback and directly connecting KET’s mission to their local community. The organization, comprising of regular citizens from every region of Kentucky, has been an invaluable contributor to the network’s fund drives, programming and educational efforts in the Commonwealth. As one of the most active and effective Friends groups in public media, The Friends of KET have received national recognition for their efforts and impact.

KET ORIGINAL PRODUCTIONS

KET produced the second season of The Farmer & The Foodie, hosted by Maggie Keith, a passionate advocate for Kentucky farmland, and Lindsey McClave, a food and wine writer and self-taught home cook. The program featured over 20 recipes which are available in a digital recipe collection.

KET produced three new documentaries which dove deep into Kentucky history, and featured rarely- or never-before-seen archival video and images, with The Pack Horse Librarians of Appalachia, Angels on Horseback: Midwives in the Mountains and Kentucky’s State Capitol.

The popularity of Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit inspired a new biographical feature about the writer, and native Kentuckian, with Walter Tevis: A Writer’s Gambit.

KET produced a unique program to complement PBS’s Muhammad Ali, featuring interviews with notable Kentuckians with personal and professional connections to the Champ.

IN THE CLASSROOM

Social and Emotional Learning: The Arts for Every Classroom: Funded in part by the Lucille Little Endowment for the Arts, this new collection in PBS LearningMedia has launched with two subcollections: Mental Health & SEL (teacher- and parent-focused content) and SEL Activities (student-focused content).

Angels on Horseback: Midwives in the Mountains: Four video segments edited from the documentary along with teacher support materials were published to PBS LearningMedia.

Around the release of PBS’s Muhammad Ali, the KET team added Muhammad Ali Center (Louisville) as a new museum in the Kentucky Virtual Art Museum PBSLM collection. The Center gave permission to add five artworks from their collection including a painting by Ali himself.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

KET launched Kentucky Edition, a daily public affairs program, covering the latest developments in a variety of sectors across the state.

Over 450 hours of Kentucky General Assembly and committee and state Supreme Court coverage was broadcast on KET.

KET produced College Financial Aid 2022: Education Matters, offering help in navigating the all-important college financial aid application process.

Fighting to Breathe: Lung Disease in Kentucky examined lung disease in Kentucky, including the causes, the impact on those afflicted and the new developments in treatment and prevention.

Kentucky Tornadoes Aftermath: A KET Special Report examined the rescue, recovery and rebuilding efforts of Kentucky communities devastated by the tornadoes of December 2021.

KET FORUMS

A panel of experts discussed public health and policy solutions for reducing the burden of lung disease in Kentucky on Fighting to Breathe: A KET Forum.

Kentucky educators shared their classroom experiences since the COVID-19 outbreak and how they’re addressing mental health concerns among their peers and students on Mental Health in Education: A KET Forum.

AgriTech in Kentucky: A KET Forum explored the growing sector and examined its role in job creation and the future of Kentucky farming.

KET ORIGINAL PRODUCTIONS

PUBLIC AFFAIRS DAILY SERIES

Kentucky Edition

PUBLIC AFFAIRS WEEKLY SERIES

Comment on Kentucky

Connections

Kentucky Health

Kentucky Tonight

PUBLIC AFFAIRS SERIES & SPECIALS

AgriTech in Kentucky: A KET Forum

College Financial Aid 2022: Education Matters

Comment on Kentucky Remembers Al Smith

Fancy Farm 2021

Fighting To Breathe: A KET Forum

Fighting to Breathe: Lung Disease in Kentucky

Kentucky Tornadoes Aftermath: A KET Special Report

Larry Hopkins: A Capitol Farewell

Maternal Health: A KET Forum

Mental Health in Education: A KET Forum

Muhammad Ali: A Kentucky Conversation

GENERAL ASSEMBLY COVERAGE

Congressional Update 2021

Governor’s 2022 State of the Commonwealth and Budget Address live coverage and highlights

Legislative Update daily during sessions

Legislative interim meetings live coverage

Primary 2022, candidate interviews, live coverage and highlights

Regular Session live coverage

ARTS & CULTURE SERIES + SPECIALS

Angels on Horseback: Midwives in the Mountains

The Farmer & The Foodie

Great Conversations

Kentucky Life

Kentucky’s State Capitol

The Pack Horse Librarians of Appalachia

Walter Tevis: A Writer’s Gambit

OTHER SERIES/SPECIALS

2021 Kentucky Department of Education Summit Highlights Program

Kentucky Afield: Non-Game Question & Answer

Kentucky Afield: Fall Hunting Question & Answer

Kentucky Afield: Spring Turkey Show

Severe Weather: Staying Safe 2022

Student Technology Leadership Program: State Championship 2022

The Pack Horse Librarians of Appalachia Premiered May 2, 2022

INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES, COURSES AND ONLINE LEARNING

Artsville

Careers in Demand

EcoSense for Living

Kentucky’s Black History and Culture

Kentucky Farms Feed Me

Kentucky Field Trips

Kentucky Studies: Angels on Horseback

Kentucky Studies: City of Ali

Kentucky Studies: Pack Horse Librarians

Lung Health

News Quiz

Social and Emotional Learning: The Arts for Every Classroom

Social Studies Shorts

Workplace Essential Skills

This program was funded in part by a grant from the Carolyn Tassie Memorial Fund. The Tassie family ensured DVD copies of the program were shared with every local library and college and university library.

To date, community screenings have been hosted in over 45 Kentucky counties thanks to cooperation with the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives and devoted librarians and programmers across the Commonwealth.

Coming out of the shadow of COVID-19 closures, KET happily resumed offering in-person events, with public health measures in place, as meaningful opportunities to connect locally with viewers, supporters and Kentuckians of all ages. From the warm wave of Daniel Tiger to the lively post-screening community discussions, and all the dance floors and activity stations in between, these opportunities brought learning to life.

KET ANYWHERE

KET anywhere. That’s our vision, to provide KET and PBS programs on demand, any time, on practically any device:

KET.org

live and on-demand

KET app for Apple and Android

KET and PBS channels on YouTube

PBS app with PBS and KET programs, for iPhone, iPad and Android, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Windows 10

PBS KIDS apps for iPhone, iPad and Android

PBS LearningMedia

Total FY22 page views on KET.org were 6.3 million.

More than 3.8 million videos were viewed on KET.org and related video platforms.

KET drove more than 2.36 million views of PBS LearningMedia content in FY22: 1.1 million views of resources by Kentucky students and teachers and 1.26 million additional views of KET-produced resources nationally.

FISCAL YEAR 2022 OPERATING REVENUE

KENTUCKY’S ONLY STATEWIDE MEDIA

KET COVERAGE MAP

TV CHANNELS

KET – High-definition KET and PBS programming

KET2 – How-to, travel and lifelong-learning programs, PBS encores

KET KY – Kentucky issues, heritage, history and culture

KET PBS KIDS – Safe, non-violent, educational PBS KIDS programming

KET’s broadcast and education services originate from the O. Leonard Press Telecommunications Center in Lexington. KET operates a production center at the Capitol in Frankfort and a studio and community outreach office on Main Street in Louisville.

Paducah/Cape G.

AWARDS

TELLY AWARDS

Walter Tevis: A Writer’s Gambit, Editing (Gold)

Angels on Horseback: Midwives in the Mountains, Editing (Gold)

Angels on Horseback: Midwives in the Mountains, History (Gold)

Walter Tevis: A Writer’s Gambit, Biography (Bronze)

2022 OHIO VALLEY REGIONAL EMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS & WINS

Walter Tevis: A Writer’s Gambit, Documentary –Cultural/Topical (win)

Angels on Horseback: Midwives in the Mountains, Documentary – Historical (win)

Angels on Horseback: Midwives in the Mountains, Writer – Long Form Content (win)

Angels on Horseback: Midwives in the Mountains, Graphic Arts – Motion Graphics/Visual Effects/ Compositing (win)

2022 NETA FINALISTS

Content: News and Public Affairs – Kentucky Edition

Content: Cultural Feature – Walter Tevis: A Writer’s Gambit

Content: Topical Feature – Pack Horse Librarians

Education: Educational Resources for the Classroom –Social Studies Shorts

OTHER INDUSTRY & COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AWARDS

2022 Kentucky Medical Association Layperson Award

Laura Krueger

2022 Lexington Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution: Media Person of the Year – Tom Bickel

2022 Women Leading Kentucky: Martha Layne Collins Leadership Award – Renee Shaw

National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) Excellence in Education – KET Education (finalist)

KEY PARTNERSHIPS

Commerce Lexington

Community Action Council

ConnectKentucky

Council on Postsecondary Education

Eastern Kentucky University

EC Learn

Education Professional Standards Board

EnGen

FEMA FRUSC

The Filson Historical Society

First 5 Lex

Floyd County Public Schools

Floyd Co. Community Early Childhood Council (CECC)

Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky

Frazier History Museum

GED Testing Service®

Governor’s Office of Early Childhood

Greater Louisville, Inc. (GLI)

Green River Regional Educational Cooperative

Greater Louisville Medical Society

Jefferson County Regional Collaborative

Jefferson County Public Schools

KentuckianaWorks

Kentucky African American Heritage Commission

Kentucky Arts Council

Kentucky Association of School Librarians

Kentucky Broadcasters Association

Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services

Kentucky Cable and Telecommunications Association

Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts

Kentucky Chamber of Commerce

Kentucky Community and Technical College System

Kentucky Cooperative Extension

Kentucky Department of Corrections

Kentucky Department of Education

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife

Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives

Kentucky Department of Workforce Investment

Kentucky Division of Emergency Management

Kentucky Education & Workforce Development Cabinet

Kentucky Environmental Education Council

Kentucky Family Resource and Youth Service Centers

Kentucky Head Start Association

Kentucky Heritage Council

Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority

Kentucky Historical Society

Kentucky Humanities Council

Kentucky Justice Cabinet

Kentucky Medical Association

Kentucky Press Association

Kentucky’s Public Radio Stations

Kentucky Science Center

Kentucky Skills U

Kentucky State Police

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative

Leadership Kentucky

Legislative Research Commission

LexArts

Lexington Public Library

Louisville Central Community Center (LCCC)

Louisville Cultural Consortium

Louisville Free Public Library

Louisville’s Campaign for Grade-Level Reading

Metro United Way

Morehead State University

Murray State University

National Center for Families Learning (NCFL)

National Repository of Online Courses (NROC)

National Weather Service

Nature Preserves Commission

Operation UNITE

Partners for Education at Berea College

PBS Newshour Student Reporting Labs

Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

Pulaski County Schools

Pulaski County Parents As Teachers

Ready for K Alliance

SOAR (Shaping Our Appalachian Region)

Spalding University

University of Kentucky

University of Louisville

University Press of Kentucky

Western Kentucky University

WKU Center for the Gifted Studies

LEADERSHIP & GOVERNANCE

The governing body for KET is the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television, an agency of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the Education & Workforce Development Cabinet. The KET Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund for KET support the mission and work of the Authority by managing and soliciting funds and contributions that support local productions, services and the acquisition of PBS and other programs. The Friends of KET, a statewide group of volunteers, help promote programs and services in communities across the Commonwealth.

KET FOUNDATION INC.

• Members of the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television

• Sean Mestan, Princeton (Friends of KET representative)

• Shae Hopkins, KET Executive Director (Treasurer)

FRIENDS OF KET EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

• President: Rebecca Rose, Morgantown

• President-elect: Kelly Green, Frankfort

KENTUCKY AUTHORITY FOR EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION

• Chair: Melissa Chastain, Ph.D., Anchorage

• Vice Chair: Jeffrey Scott Jobe, Glasgow

• Secretary: David Couch, Frankfort

• Executive Committee At Large: Leah Adkins, Catlettsburg

• Executive Committee At Large: G. Dan Griffith, Owensboro

• Bob M. Beck, Jr., Lexington

• Karyn Hoover, Jamestown

• Kevin W. Weaver, Lexington

• Jason E. Glass, Ed.D., Commissioner, KY Department of Education, Frankfort (ex officio)

• Secretary: Elizabeth Griffith, Owensboro

• Vice President: Kathy Brauer, Henderson

• Vice President: Peggy Patterson, Prospect

• Vice President: A. Dale Josey, Louisville

• Vice President: Barbara McGinty, Paducah

• Past President: Lora Suttles, Staffordsville

• Nominating Chair: Carol Beirne, Fort Mitchell

COMMONWEALTH FUND FOR KET INC.

• Chair: Nick Nicholson, Lexington

• Secretary: Kimberly D. Patton, Hebron

• Treasurer: John S. Domaschko, Covington

• D.R. Ball, Lexington

• Mira S. Ball, Lexington

• Mary Butler, Lexington (Friends of KET representative)

• Donna Moore Campbell, Lexington

• Melissa Chastain, Ph.D, Anchorage

• Vickie Yates Brown Glisson, Louisville

• G. Dan Griffith, Owensboro

• Shae Hopkins, KET Executive Director

• Alice Houston, Louisville

• William J. Jones, Paducah

• Nana Lampton, Louisville

• Michael Owsley, Bowling Green

• Hilma Prather, Somerset

• Melanie Simpson-Conley, Lexington

• William T. Young Jr., Lexington

KET SENIOR MANAGEMENT

• Shae Hopkins, Executive Director and CEO

• Tim Bischoff, Chief Technology Officer

• Elaine Crawford, Senior Director, Policy and Compliance

• Tonya Crum, Chief of Staff

• Beth Gaunce, Senior Director, Education

• Todd Piccirilli, Senior Director, Marketing and Communications

• Michele Ripley, President, Commonwealth Fund for KET

• Julie Schmidt, Senior Director, External Affairs

• Nancy Southgate, Chief Content Officer